\n You’ve been working on Sir Render for five years. I was curious about that because that spans your time before, during, and after signing to Def Jam. Could you talk a bit about the decision to go to a major label and how that influenced the music that came after?
I love Ways of Knowing. That\u2019s an album that I will always love and appreciate. But working with Budgie was the first time I’d ever worked with just one producer, and I think the first draft of that album was much more in line with the music that I was making. And then there\u2019s certain joints that didn\u2019t get cleared, and we\u2019re having to remake them. And then these songs are becoming big and I\u2019m thinking, \u201cWhoa, maybe this is an opportunity to really breakthrough and reach a new audience.\u201d And I\u2019m really grateful for it; I tried a lot of new things on there, but I just felt this necessity to return back to my essence.
None of it was in vain, I wanted to learn how the machine worked, and I definitely got to learn how it worked. It\u2019s definitely not for me. I make music from my heart for the people that it\u2019s meant for, and when it\u2019s funneled through the computers and all of that stuff, a part of it dies, you know? Part of the spirit dies. You have to be content with that.
I remember my mom saying she met Marvin Gaye and they were like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m a singer, I\u2019m gonna make music dadada\u201d and he said, \u201cWell, you better love it because it\u2019ll kill you.\u201d And just thinking about all the tortured souls of the music industry, everyone knows that it\u2019s maybe not the most wholesome place. Although I didn\u2019t get too engulfed in it, I had enough of an experience to know like, \u201cAh, this is not this is not the place for me.\u201d Independence is definitely the way to go right now. The traditional record label setup is just, if it works for you, then it works for you. I know for me personally, it doesn\u2019t work for me.\n <\/p>\n